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Pure Dead Brilliant: page 188
Loved Anna and Wolfgang’s story so much! The way you wrote the book, and the research that must have been done to put it all in a book astounds me! I’m just downright impressed, Terry. I couldn’t get enough of their life and your words. I look forward to reading your next book. Just amazing.
Diane C
Love your word choice! I am very glad the story resonated with you. It took many hours of research to get the feel of their world and the time in which they lived. It informed me even when the research did not “show on the page”. Thank you.
I truly enjoyed Terry Iten’s book and found it hard to put down. It is the very compelling and touching narrative of her immigrant paternal grandparents coming to America separately in the early 20th century. A fortuitous meeting thus began their very interesting life story, filled with many obstacles along the way. They were able to overcome these together with lots of determination and faith, hard work and love. The author does a wonderful job of bringing them to life. I found myself really rooting for them and crying with them. Their legacy is an inspiring testament. I also found the added historical content to nicely enhance their story. It’s one I will remember. Valerie C
Wolfgang and Anna never quit. I am very touched that you were rooting for them. Thank you.
Wolfgang and Anna
by Terry Iten
This biography of Terry Iten’s grandparents is a warm, carefully researched story about two people who were born close to each other in Europe, never met, and went on to build a life together an ocean away. The book follows each of them as they leave home, take different routes to San Francisco, and try to make sense of a new country. By the time they finally cross paths—at a dance neither one wanted to attend—you feel the full weight of how unlikely and how right their meeting was.
The research is solid but never heavy. The author provides enough detail to understand the world they came from, the challenges of immigration, and the early days of San Francisco, while keeping the story centered on the people. Their courtship, marriage, and family life are told simply and honestly. Nothing is exaggerated. Nothing is polished to look better than it was. You see two people who worked hard, cared deeply for each other, and built a long, steady life together.
What stays with you is the sense of quiet luck—how two lives running side by side finally touched, and how that one chance meeting shaped everything that came after. It’s a book that honors them without turning them into legends. It reminds you how many families were built the same way: through courage, timing, and a little bit of accident.
Your insightful comments touch my heart. Thank you.
Such a timely book, reminding us of the hardships and accomplishments of the immigrants who built this country. Terry Iten was able to weave together historical fact, actual letters, documents and photos with literary creativity to bring us this beautiful story of love, family and perseverance. Bravo!
I certainly had no idea in 2023, when I began writing this story, that immigrants in the United States would be rounded up and imprisoned today. The echo of history reverberates.
Both sets of my grandparents immigrated from Italy. Each word you wrote brought so many relative experiences, including San Francisco where my father was born and raised. Northern California, hardships, true love, endurance, loss, perseverance . . . . it was all written exquisitely. Your talent of describing all the players, their surroundings and mostly their feelings is remarkable. Your book will magnify everyone’s appreciation for superb writing. I see a documentary or movie in your future! For certain, you need to keep writing ~ it’s an amazing gift. I haven’t appreciated a book like this ever before.
When you have loved ones who are, or were, immigrants, you know pieces of their story, their struggles and the hope and tenacity required to make a new life in our country. I am pleased that Wolfgang and Anna brought your own grandparents back to the present for you. A movie? Well that would be something! I do plan to keep writing. Thank you so much for your comments.
Just a breathtaking, heartbreaking, and eventually triumphant book of human hardship and endurance. Every little thread of hope is met with disaster, and yet Wolfgang and Anna keep going, refusing to surrender their hope or their love for each other.
This book will stay with me forever.
Wiley C
You beautifully captured who they were. Their love for one another, unflagging courage and work ethic kept them alive and thriving despite, at times, overwhelming odds. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
A thoroughly enjoyable read. It brought back memories from my youth, growing up in a German American household during World War Two. My parents speaking to my sister and I in English with a German accent, the familiar songs of love and a caring family. Thank you for bringing back those wonderful times.
Thank you for sharing this. That my story prompted your warm, family memories to return is a gift.
This book is a beautifully crafted fictional biography rooted in rich historical fact, telling the remarkable story of the author’s paternal grandparents, Wolfgang and Anna Iten. Beginning in two villages in Switzerland and unfolding across continents, the narrative traces their separate journeys to America and their eventual meeting in San Francisco in the early 1900’s. From the start, the author brings these characters vividly to life, using thoughtfully imagined dialogue-complete with thick Swiss accents-that makes their voices feel authentic and intimate.
The book creates a full and textured portrait of a family’s legacy in California and describes the trials faced by immigrants forging a new life in an unfamiliar country. This is the author’s first book, and it is an impressive and moving debut. The characters feel real, their struggles genuine, and their love enduring. Ultimately, this is not only a treasured account of the Iten family history, but also an epic love story–one that reminds us what risks people will take to carve out a better life together.
Thank you so very much for your comments. Bringing these two salt-of-the-earth people to life on the page was vital to their story. They possessed incredible resilience and lived a good and honest life together.
Terry Iten’s first novel, “Wolfgang and Anna”, is TERRIFIC! It is the DELIGHTFUL sharing of her grandparents’ journey to America, and is beautifully and compellingly told! Their lives filled with grit, love, heartache and perseverance are fleshed out with “imagined scenes” that truly bring their experiences to life! She’s done an incredible job of weaving the pieces of their Swiss heritage throughout with language, accent and even music!! Well, you’ll just have to order a copy to see how she includes their music!! An inspiring read – I urge you to discover their journey – you’ll be glad you did!!
K Harris
My heartfelt thank you for your feedback. Although “Wolfgang and Anna” began as a labor of love for my family, it grew into an immigrant story of love, devotion and survival. The Twentieth Century was a tumultuous time with many achievements and a multitude of setbacks in American life.
What an absolutely marvelous read!!!! I truly enjoyed how she skillfully intertwined fact and fiction in creating the heartfelt story of Wolfgang and Anna. It is a wonderful love story of two people – despite many hardships and sorrows – who stayed together in an astonishing marriage union. It had a great flow to it and piqued my interest from page to page. I try to read one book a week. Terry’s book is definitely one of the best I have read – I highly recommend it!!!!
Bob G